This invention relates to protocols employed in the transmission of messages such as telephonic control signals of a communication system and, more particularly, to the generation of a set of instructions for operation of the digital signal processor of a radio telephone for encoding and decoding telephonic command signals in various protocols.
Communication via radiotelephone is in wide use today for both domestic and international communication. In order to enable telephones in various countries to communicate, international standards of communication protocols have been developed. The protocols establish the digitally formatted signals transmitted among radiotelephones and their respective base stations via control channels for various control purposes, such as for dialing a distant party and for initiating a conversation. Implementation of a protocol is accomplished by programming the digital signal processor (DSP) of a radio telephone to encode outgoing telephone control signals in accordance with the protocol and to decode incoming telephone control signals in accordance with the protocol. While the foregoing example is in terms of a radio or cellular telephone system, similar uses of protocol apply to other forms of communication systems.
A problem arises in that the programming of a computer, such as the computer in a DSP, to accomplish the encoding and decoding functions of a specific protocol is a long and cumbersome task involving many hours of a programmer's time. Thus, in the event that a proposed improvement to a communication system is to be accomplished by a change of the protocol, there is considerable expense and effort involved in the reprogramming of the DSP or other computer which performs the encoding and the decoding functions.